Type belt for a belt printer

ABSTRACT

A low-cost type belt for a belt printer which includes nonextensible tensile members formed into a continuous loop and elastomeric character blocks secured thereto. The character blocks are equally spaced from one another and encapsulate the tensile members. Each block has a printing portion on which a character is formed and a driving portion enabling it to be driven by a complementary drive pulley.

United States Patent 1191 Soderstrom et al.

[ TYPE BELT FOR A BELT PRINTER [75] Inventors: Melvin A. Soderstrom; John W.

Thomas, both of Dayton, Ohio [73] Assignee: The National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio 22 Filed: Feb.22, 1972 21 Appl.No.: 228,415

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser. No. 40,688, May 26, 1970,

abandoned. I

[52] US. Cl. 101/111 [51] Int. Cl B41j 5/08 [58] Field of Search 101/93 C, 111, 368; 74/233, 74/237 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,418,929 12/1968 Nelson l01/11l 3,041,964 7/1962 Simpson et al. 101/1 11 X 2,936,704 5/1960 l-lense 101/93 C 3,479,892 11/1969 Cicojnani 74/237 X 7/1962 Sasaki 101/111 [451 Feb, 12, 1974 2,690,985 10/ 1954 Poole 74/237 X 2,762,297 9/1956 Baer 101/111 X 798,460 8/1905 Scotford.. 101/111 3,113,509 12/1963 Simpson 101/111 2,096,340 r 10/1937 Richeson lOl/l ll 2,267,661 12/1941 Meyers 101/111 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,291,753 4/1969 Germany l01/l1l Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant ExaminerE. M. Coven Attorney, Agent, or Firm.l. T. Cavender, Albert L. Sessler, Jr.; Elmer Wargo [57] ABSTRACT A low-cost type belt for a belt printer which includes non-extensible tensile members formed into a continuous loop and elastomeric character blocks secured thereto. The character blocks are equally spaced from one another and encapsulate the tensile members. Each block has a printing portion on which a character is formed and a driving portion enabling it to be driven by a complementary drive pulley.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB 1 2 I974 INVENTORS MELVIN A. SODERSTROM THOMAS 8:

JOHN W.

BY 4/? W THEIR ATTORN YS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a low-cost type bolt which may be used in high-speed belt printers.

One of the disadvantages encountered with prior-art type belts used in belt printers is the cost of manufacturing them. Another disadvantage is that, at times, elaborate constructions are required to absorb the impact energy during printing when the print hammers of the printer impact against the individual character blocks of the type belt.

Some of the priorart type belts used in belt printers are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos: 3,041,964, which issued July 3, 1962, on the application of Victor R. Simpson et al.;

3,1 13,509, which issued Dec. 10, 1963, on the application of Victor R. Simpson;

3,133,497, which issued May '19, 1964, on the application of Claude Raymond Marie Martin;

3,142,249, which issued July 28, 1964, on the application of Rentaro Sasaki;

3,188,947, which issued June 15, 1965, on the application of Walter Griffin Paige;

3,216,348, which issued Nov. 9, 1965, on the application of Kenneth F. Oldenburg et al.;

3,224,366, which issued Dec. 21, 1965, on the application of James M. Cunningham; and

3,402,65 7, which issued Sept. 24, 1968, on the application of John T. Potter et a1.

Another prior-art type belt is shown in the British Pat. No. 1,161,765, which was published on Aug. 20, 1969.

In applicants type belt, the character blocks included in the belt function as both the driving element and the impact-absorbing member. Because of the simplified construction, the belt may be economically produced. The cross-sectional design of the individual character blocks of the belt provide for quaddirectional containment of the block during impact by the print hammers of a printer.

SUMMARY This invention relates to a low-cost type belt which is used in.a belt printer. The belt includes low-cost character blocks or type members which are molded around a dimensionally-stable endless band. In one embodiment, the band is a non-extensible elastomeric band reinforced with metal cables, and, in another embodiment, the character blocks encapsulate a pair of spaced metal cables which are formed into an endless band. The character blocks are formed from an elastomeric material and have drive portions and type portions. The drive portions are compatible with drive pulleys, and the type portions contain the characters to be printed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a general perspective view of the type belt of this invention used in a belt type printer.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, perspective view, partly in cross-section, of the type belt and is taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 to show additional details of the belt.

FIG. 3 is a general perspective view of a second embodiment of the type belt of this invention, showing only a few character blocks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The type belt of this invention is shown in a belt printer environment in FIG. 1. The belt, designated generally as 10, is mounted on a drive pulley 12 and an idler pulley (not shown but similar to the pulley 12) to form an endless belt, as is typically done in belt printers. The belt passes through a guide member 14, where printing is effected by print hammers 16. Because the controls for actuating the print hammers 16 in timed relationship with the belt to effect printing do not form a part of this invention, they are not shown, and consequently any convenient controls may be used.

The construction details of the belt 10 are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The belt 10 includes a plurality of non- Y extensible cables 18, 20, and 22, which are encapsulated by a layer of plastic, like polyurethane, which forms a band 24, which has the general rectangular shape shown in cross-section in FIG. 2. The band 24 has a plurality of pairs of spaced holes 26, which are positioned on opposed sides of the cable 20. Each of these pairs of holes 26 locates a character block or type member to be affixed to the belt 10.

The construction of the character blocks designated generally as 28 is best shown in FIG. 2. Each character block 28 has a drive portion 30 and a print portion 32. The drive portion 30 has an isosceles trapezoidal shape in cross-section, and the print portion 32 has a rectangular shape in cross-section. Individual characters for the character blocks are formed on the individual faces like 34 and 36 thereof. The character blocks 28 are integrally formed around the band 24, and portions 27 of the blocks pass through the holes 26 located in the band 24, so as to help secure the individualblocks to specific locations on the band 24. The character blocks are identical in size and are equally spaced from one another by a fixed distance to impart flexibility to the belt 10. The blocks 28 are made of a plastic material, like polyurethane, which is molded around the band 24 to make an integrally-formed assembly. The ends of the band 24 (not shown) are cut at an angle or are spliced so as to maintain a constant area cross-section and several of the character blocks 28 are used to encapsulate the spliced joint to secure the ends of the belt 10 together. v

When the type belt 10 is installed in a belt printer, the belt is guided in a horizontal direction by the guide member 14, whose internal cross-section complements the cross-section of the character blocks 28. The guide member 14 has removable face plates 40 and 42 (FIG. 2), which facilitate the insertion of the belt 10 into the guide member.

The particular cross-sectional shape of the character blocks 28 enables them to be contained in four directions while being guided through the guide member 14. The back face of the character block 28 abuts against the back face 44 in the recess of the guide member 14 when a hammer l6 impacts against the face 34 of a character block 28, and, similarly, the upper and lower tapered faces of the block may be wedged against the upper and lower faces 46 and 48 of the recess (FIG. 2),

.respectively, during impact. Because the character after impact, the character blocks 28 are restrained from moving towards the print hammer 16 by the face plates 40 and 42.

In addition to functioning as impact members, the character blocks 28 also function as driving elements for the belt 10. Because the cross-sectional shape of the driving portion of each character block is an isosceles trapezoid, the driving portions 30 can be driven by an ordinary V-type drive pulley 12 or a timing pulley to enable the belt to be positively driven.

A second embodiment of the type belt of this invention is shown in FIG. 3 and is designated generally as 50. The belt 50 includes a plurality of character blocks 52, which have the same general cross-section as the character blocks 28. The belt 50 includes two spaced parallel, non-extensible cables 54 and 56, which form the support structure for the belt. The character blocks 52 are molded around the cables 54 and 56 to encapsulate them. The blocks 52 have a print portion 58 and a drive portion 60, which function in the same manner as their counterparts in the character blocks 28, previously described. The character blocks 52 are identical in size, are made of the same plastic material used in the blocks 28, and are equally spaced from one another to provide flexibility to the belt 50. The belt 50 may be used in a printer environment similar to that shown in FIG. 1. The cables 54 and 56 in the belt 50 are multistranded metal cables and are located in an imaginary plane passing through the plane where the printing portion 58 and the driving portion 60 of a character block meet. The ends of the cables 54 (which may be stranded) are spliced together, or overlapped, and are encapsulated by several character blocks; the same is true for the ends of the cable 56. While the portions 60 and 30 of the character blocks have been called driving portions relative to their representative print portions, it is apparent that these portions can also be called driven portions with reference to the drive pulley 12.

What is claimed is:

l. A high speed printer comprising:

a driving pulley, a driven pulley, and an endless type belt mounted thereon;

a guide member fixed to said printer to slidably receive said type belt as it is driven therepast in a feeding direction by said driving pulley;

a print hammer means located opposite said guide member to impact against said type belt to effect printing on a record medium positioned therebetween;

said type belt comprising:

a dimensionally-stable elastomeric band having a rectangular cross section and being formed into a continuous loop and having a plurality of spaced metallic tensile cables imbedded therein to reinforce said band;

said band having a plurality of pairs of holes therein to define type member locations;

a plurality of elastomeric type members secured to said band at said type member locations, with each said type member completely surrounding a portion of said band and adhering thereto and having portions integral therewith passing through the associated pair of holes to assist in fixing the location of the type member on said band;

each said type member having a printing portion and a driven portion with said driven portion having a cross-sectional shape in the form of an isosceles trapezoid as viewed along a section line including the cross section of said band, with the longer of the two parallel sides of said trapezoid being adjacent to the print portion of the associated type member so as to enable the driven portions to be driven by said driving pulley which has a complementary shape in cross section to receive the driven portions of said type members; and with said elastomeric band being located in said driven portions;

said guide member comprising a block member having a recess in one side thereof with said recess having a cross-sectional shape in the form of an isosceles trapezoid to slidably receive said driven portion of said type members therein;

each said driven portion having two faces lying substantially in a common plane including said longer side and said one side of said guide member;

said guide member also having plates detachably secured to said one side and aligned with said two faces to prevent rebounding of the type member when said print hammer means impacts against the associated printing portion, which printing portion extends from the associated driven portion beyond said two faces and plates. 

1. A high speed printer comprising: a driving pulley, a driven pulley, and an endless type belt mounted thereon; a guide member fixed to said printer to slidably receive said type belt as it is driven therepast in a feeding direction by said driving pulley; a print hammer means located opposite said guide member to impact against said type belt to effect printing on a record medium positioned therebetween; said type belt comprising: a dimensionally-stable elastomeric band having a rectangular cross section and being formed into a continuous loop and having a plurality of spaced metallic tensile cables imbedded therein to reinforce said band; said band having a plurality of pairs of holes therein to define type member locations; a plurality of elastomeric type members secured to said band at said type member locations, with each said type member completely surrounding a portion of said band and adhering thereto and having portions integral therewith passing through the associated pair of holes to assist in fixing the location of the type member on said band; each said type member having a printing portion and a driven portion with said driven portion having a cross-sectional shape in the form of an isosceles trapezoid as viewed along a section line including the cross section of said band, with the longer of the two parallel sides of said trapezoid being adjacent to the print portion of the associated type member so as to enable the driven portions to be driven by said driving pulley which has a complementary shape in cross section to receive the driven portions of said type members; and with said elastomeric band being located in said driven portions; said guide member comprising a block member having a recess in one side thereof with said recess having a cross-sectional shape in the form of an isosceles trapezoid to slidably receive said driven portion of said type members therein; each said driven portion having two faces lying substantially in a common plane including said longer side and said one side of said guide member; said guide memBer also having plates detachably secured to said one side and aligned with said two faces to prevent rebounding of the type member when said print hammer means impacts against the associated printing portion, which printing portion extends from the associated driven portion beyond said two faces and plates. 